Kitchen Appliances

02/08/2011

As a self-professed lover of multi-functional gadgets and a longtime fan of QVC (helllllloooooo, Mike Rowe pre-Dirty Jobs!) I was excited to receive samples from the good folks representing Lori Greiner (she's been featured on QVC for the last 14 years) including, these funky little cooking utensils...with a twist.

Key features are:

Made of stainless steel, the silicone covered handles are specially designed to hang on the side of a pot

The handles also have a special nylon non stick blend that is highly heat resistant & dishwasher safe

Set includes a spatula, large stirring spoon, small stirring spoon and slotted spoon

Available Colors: Red & Black

Price: $18.00

After turning it over in my hands, a few times, I tried to figure out just what makes them so, you know, special?

Looks pretty served up with my homemade mac & cheese, right?

These utensils rest quite nicely on the side of a serving dish and won't slip, or slide around, either. Also, they match nicely with my kitchen (at the moment!)

It has a wide, shallow design and is great for preparing paella dishes or braising meat.

It is one of the only affordable, easy to clean Paella pans on the market that easily goes from stove top to oven.

The Paella Pan also features a unique Thermo-Spot indicator that turns solid red to let you know when the pan is preheated.

Price $24.99 (Also available at Target and K-Mart stores)

My mother would be interested to learn that, along with gas burner stove tops, this pan also works with electric radiant ring and an electric ceramic/glass-top.

My parents moved into a retirement community a few years ago and she had to actually re-learn how to cook with an electric stove. I have since inherited one of her stock pots, because it took FOREVER to heat.

Unfortunately, I haven't tried to cook paella (ever) however, I'm willing to give it a shot and, well, you know any good recipes?!?

01/19/2011

My youngest daughter (she's 9) however, has shown real interest in learning how to cook -- especially, the Hungarian food my mother still enjoys cooking for her grandchildren, every Sunday -- she says it makes her happy...me, too!

My son (he's 12) well, the boy likes to eat.

Last year, I had the extreme privilege of partnering with the Frigidaire Test Drive program and, let me tell you, we gave their appliances a real work out!

Parents can join Kids' Cooking Academy and, when you do (between 1/18/11 and 4/25/11) Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children with a minimum of $35,000 and a maximum of $40,000 to help make sure that more children have access to healthy foods.

Plus, everyone who participates will be entered for a chance to win the daily prize, a kids' apron set and the grand prize: a new Frigidaire Double Oven Range!

Disclosure: I am working in partnership with the Frigidaire Test Drive Program and received a $50 gift card from Frigidaire for my participation in helping to spread the word on their Make Time for Change Campaign. However, the words and opinions in this post are ALL mine!

I often joke about how I can't make a decent pot of coffee to save my life, literally.

I don't know what it is.

Besides, the fact that I am mechanically deficient in situations that require anything more than pressing a button...I mean.

Even my own mother insists, "No, that's okay, you just sit, relax and I WILL MAKE THE COFFEE!!!"

So, when the good folks representing Bosch (the makers of the cool new 1Tassimo T20 Single Serve Coffee Brewer) offered to help build on my coffee making cred (heh) it took me less than 60 seconds to make a BANGIN' cup of coffee...every time!

12/13/2010

I know, I know, housecleaning is a SUCH a dirty word (sorry!) but, raising 2 teens, 2 tweens and 2 pets, while waging war on a 7 room house (notice how I refer to it as a battle and NOT cleaning, you're welcome!) my friends at One2One Network asked if I'd be interested in testing out Pledge multi-surface capabilities.

Why?

Because, they know that, you know, I am also a lover of multi-functional stuff!

All of the Pledge aerosol (Natural Beauty, Clean & Shine, Dust & Allergen, Protection Plus and Extra Moisturizing) family of formulas can be used to clean following surfaces:

Then, a few weeks went by (gotta love the summertime, right?) and, although, I'm a little behind on my posts (see: summertime) I no longer fear feeding the laundry monster -- in fact, I sort of look forward to it.

Morale of the story: Make sure that the lint exhaust is installed AND vented properly!!! Educate yourself about what you are bringing into your house and keep a close watch on the folks who will be installing it, too!

In the meantime, if anyone needs me, I'll be upstairs...asleep...wake me up when Ty Pennington calls!

“I
wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom
Central on behalf of Frigidaire and will receive a Frigidaire
Refrigerator, Range/Microwave, Washer/Dryer set, and a Dishwasher to
facilitate my review.”

05/12/2010

I am very excited (okay, so, this is where my kids would interrupt and suggest, "SHOCKED," as a more accurate description of my reaction) to have partnered with Mom Central as one of their Fridgidaire Test Drive Moms - Team Everything!

Aaaand, if you're still
reading along, with me, well, you might as well consider yourself
family, at this point, which means you are also very surprised I haven't broken
anything yet, and here's why...

04/29/2010

I am very excited (okay, so, this is where my kids would interrupt and suggest, "SHOCKED," as a more accurate description of my reaction) to have partnered with Mom Central as one of their Fridgidaire Test Drive Moms - Team Everything!

Aaaand, if you're still
reading along, with me, well, you might as well consider yourself
family, at this point, which means you are also very surprised I haven't broken
anything yet, and here's why...

04/20/2010

I am very excited (okay, so, this is where my kids would interrupt and suggest, "SHOCKED," as a more accurate description of my reaction) to have partnered with Mom Central as one of their Fridgidaire Test Drive Moms - Team Everything!

04/13/2010

I am very excited (okay, so, this is where my kids would interrupt and suggest, "SHOCKED," as a more accurate description of my reaction) to have partnered with Mom Central as one of their Frigidaire Test Drive Moms - Team Everything!

We're in the final countdown of the program (and, if you're still reading along, with me, well, you might as well consider yourself family, at this point) and I'm just very surprised I haven't broken anything yet, and here's why...

03/30/2010

I am very excited (okay, so, this is where my kids would interrupt and suggest, "SHOCKED," as a more accurate describe of my reaction) to have partnered with Mom Central as one of their Fridgidaire Test Drive Moms - Team Everything!

03/17/2010

I am very excited (okay, so, this is where my kids would interrupt and suggest, "SHOCKED," as a more accurate describe of my reaction) to have partnered with Mom Central as one of their Fridgidaire Test Drive Moms - Team Everything!

Okay, so why This Full House? Right, so it's a blog about 6 people (3 teens, 1 tween and 2 totally uncool parents), living in a 7 room house (yep, at the same time!) in New Jersey (YES! On purpose!) and boy do we have stories, enough said. Feel free to visit with us over at our main blog my about page, but mind the killer dust bunnies -- THEY BITE!!!

FEEL FREE TO UPDATE YOUR FEED AND/OR VISIT OUR MAIN BLOG TO SEE NEW POSTS, WE'LL KEEP THE PORCH LIGHT ON FOR YA!